Dun and dusted

Going into the final event at Norley which was hosted by the hard working Mid Cheshire MXC, Dunham in MX1 needed just 20 points to clinch another AMCA crown and as expected the Gloucestershire-ace quickly got the business concluded by finishing second in the opening moto of the day.

 

For Midlander Cox though it was a totally different scenario as he literally had to ride through the pain barrier before retaining his MX2 title in a nervous final race shootout.

 

Although Dunham and Cox enjoyed the title winning glory on Sunday, remarkably neither racer featured on the podium. Instead, and finishing their respective seasons in style, Brad O'Leary (MX1) and Ben Saunders (MX2) produced yet another podium topping performance, hot on the heels of their recent successes at round six at Canada Heights.

 

O'Leary was joined by Richard Cannings – making a surprise return to action – and Clinton Barrs while Ryan Morris and Adam Wells jumped aboard the MX2 dais.

 

Although this was the final round of the series, any thoughts that the riders would be literally just going through the motions were quickly dispelled as the MX1 lads produced a stunning opening moto. From the off Elliot Barrs was quickest away with his cousin, Clinton Barrs, in hot pursuit as Simon Lane – having his last AMCA MX1 Championship ride – held an early third from Cannings, O'Leary and Tim Burrows, while champion elect, Dunham, started tenth.

 

With Lane dropping down to 13th, Dunham took just three laps to climb up to fifth and the battle developed. From that point on the leading five of E Barrs, Cannings, C Barrs,  O'Leary and Dunham produced an absolute classic, which entertained an appreciative crowd.

 

Four laps from home O'Leary hit the front. In a constantly changing leader-board O'Leary was the victor as Dunham coolly slotted into second and secured his MX1 crown.

 

Clinton Barrs fell and slipped back to fifth, just behind Cannings and Elliot Barrs. Meanwhile, Edward Briscoe produced his best ride of the season by moving from 13th up to sixth.

 

If moto one was good, the action in the second clash of the day excelled, with a contest that produced four different leaders in Elliot Barrs, Cannings, Clinton Barrs and finally, race winner O'Leary.

 

Fast out the traps again, Elliot led the initial charge but again quickly came under heavy pressure, eventually slipping back to seventh.

 

O'Leary though was in irresistible form, timing his strike to perfection and moving to the front of the pack with four laps remaining as Clinton Barrs claimed second with Cannings third.

 

After crashing on the second corner of moto one, Luke Meredith gained some consolation this time out to earn a strong fourth just ahead of the new champion, Dunham. Carrying the red number one plate, Lee worked his way up from 13th.

 

Looking to finish his season in style, O'Leary led the final MX1 charge of the season and along with Cannings quickly forged a large advantage on the chasing pack.

 

However, Brad's maximum hopes were dashed five laps into the contest when he stalled his engine in a deep, rutted corner, before picking up a rear wheel puncture.

 

From there on a delighted Cannings strolled to victory. Such was the pace of the front two runners that O'Leary was still able to comfortably hold on to second spot, enough to earn yet another confidence boosting and impressive overall success. Third this time out was Meredith ahead of Clinton Barrs, Elliot Barrs and Shaun Pearce.

 

Going into this final round, reigning AMCA MX2 champion, Jack Cox, held a 54-point advantage in the title race ahead of closest rival Ben Saunders.

 

Starting the day in style and despite suffering from a sore shoulder, which he dislocated several weeks earlier, Cox recorded the fastest qualifying time before blasting to a great opening moto win at Norley. Gating in third, Jack had to pass a quick starting Ryan Morris and Adam Wells, before moving into pole position although Morris certainly kept the champ honest by taking the verdict right down to the wire – just three-seconds in arrears at the flag.

 

FOR FULL REPORT AND PICTURES SEE TMX OCTOBER 11

 

AMCA MX1 MOTOCROSS CHAMPIONSHIP

Rd 7 – Norley, nr Frodsham (Mid Cheshire MXC)

 1 Brad O'Leary (AMS FUS KTM) 60 + 60 + 54 = 174

 2 Richard Cannings (450F Honda) 50 + 50 + 60 = 160

 3 Clinton Barrs (DK Off-Road Kawasaki) 45 + 54 + 47 = 146

 4 Lee Dunham (Maxxis LPE Kawasaki) 54 + 45 + 39 = 138

 5 Elliot Barrs (Honda) 47 + 41 + 45 = 133

 6 Luke Meredith (Eurotek KTM) 20 + 47 + 50 = 117

 7 Shaun Pearce (NP Suzuki) 37 + 37 + 43 = 117

 8 Tim Burrows (KTM) 41 + 39 + 27 = 107

 9 Shaun Scrivens (Honda) 26 + 33 + 41 = 100

10 Chad Yarranton (Passion Kawasaki) 33 + 29 + 35 = 97

11 Benjamin Milward (350F Inchains KTM) 39+27+31=97, 12 Scott Bates (Park Lane IDS KTM) 18+43+33=94, 13 Jamie Dobson (Underdog Honda) 21+35+37=93, 14 Sean Wainwright (KTM) 35+22+24=81, 15 Tye Barrs (Kawasaki) 27+31+20=78, 16 Sean Frayne (SPS Honda) 24+23+26=73, 17 Kristofer Ayres (KTM) 16+25+29=70, 18 Simon Lane (Honda) 29+21+18=68, 19 Edward Briscoe (???) 43+19+0=62, 20 Christopher Childs (DK Off-Road Kaw) 23+15+22=60, 21 Lewis Belfield (KTM) 31+26+0=57, 22 Jake Thompson (Honda) 15+18+23=56, 23 Michael Smith (Honda) 19+24+12=55, 24 Joe Wright (???) 14+14+21=49, 25 Mark Bayliss (Yamaha) 13+20+16=49,...

RACE ONE: 1 O'Leary, 2 Dunham, 3 Cannings, 4 Elliot Barrs, 5 Clinton Barrs, 6 Briscoe, 7 Burrows, 8 Milward, 9 Pearce, 10 Sean Wainwright, 11 Yarranton, 12 Belfield, 13 Lane, 14 Tye Barrs, 15 Scrivens, 16 Peter Wainwright, 17 Frayne, 18 Childs, 19 Weaver, 20 Dobson.

RACE TWO: 1 O'Leary, 2 Clinton Barrs, 3 Cannings, 4 Meredith, 5 Dunham, 6 Bates, 7 Elliot Barrs, 8 Burrows, 9 Pearce, 10 Dobson, 11 Scrivens, 12 Tye Barrs, 13 Yarranton, 14 Milward, 15 Belfield, 16 Ayres, 17 Michael Smith, 18 Frayne, 19 Sean Wainwright, 20 Lane.

RACE THREE: 1 Cannings, 2 O'Leary, 3 Meredith, 4 Clinton Barrs, 5 Elliot Barrs, 6 Pearce, 7 Scrivens, 8 Dunham, 9 Dobson, 10 Yarranton, 11 Bates, 12 Milward, 13 Ayres, 14 Burrows, 15 Frayne, 16 Ayres, 17 Michael Smith, 18 Frayne, 19 Sean Wainwright, 20 Lane.

FINAL SERIES STANDINGS after 7 rounds: 1 Lee Dunham 1,068 points (CHAMPION), 2 Clinton Barrs 915, 3 Elliot Barrs 856, 4 Meredith 791, 5 Pearce 763, 6 Bates 733, 7 Yarranton 645, 8 Tye Barrs 603, 9 Frayne 562, 10 Dobson 530, 11 Milward 516, 12 Michael Smith 508, 13 O'Leary 501, 14 Tillotson 473, 15 Ayres 430, 16 Burrows 423, 17 Eckersley 409, 18 Belfield 408, 19 Turner 406, 20 Cook 335,...

 

AMCA MX2 MOTOCROSS CHAMPIONSHIP

Rd 7 – Norley, nr Frodsham (Mid Cheshire MXC)

 1 Ben Saunders (AJP KTM) 47 + 60 + 60 = 167

 2 Ryan Morris (Cradley Kawasaki) 54 + 54 + 54 = 162

 3 Adam Wells (Underdog Honda) 50 + 50 + 47 = 147

 4 Jack Cox (Cox Crane Hire Yamaha) 60 + 33 + 41 = 134

 5 Carl Benjamin (Park Lane IDS KTM) 39 + 47 + 45 = 131

 6 Scott Mathia (Hazport KTM) 35 + 41 + 50 = 126

 7 Paul Neale (Passion Kawasaki) 43 + 37 + 43 = 123

 8 Ryan Crowder (Rocket Centre Honda) 45 + 43 + 35 = 123

 9 Zac Stealey (Kawasaki) 41 + 45 + 31 = 117

10 Joseph Del-Busso (711 MX Honda) 33 + 29 + 37 = 99

11 James Lane (LRT Honda) 37+21+39=97, 12 Cory McShane (Yamaha) 29+35+29=93, 13 Clinton Thomas (Stormer Honda) 27+27+24=78, 14 Martin Jones (Kawasaki) 25+13+33=71, 15 Ryan Jones (Yamaha) 31+39+0=70, 16 Dean Swift (KTM) 18+25+25=68, 17 Daniel Hill (???) 23+24+20=67, 18 Christopher Hill (Honda) 26+12+27=65, 19 Richard Gray (Corby Kawasaki) 13+26+26=65, 20 Wayne Williams (???) 21+20+19=60, 21 Mitchell Benjamin (Thornbury KTM) 14+23+22=59, 22 Steven Owen (KTM) 20+18+21=59, 23 Brandon Benjamin (Thornbury KTM) 24+31+0=55, 24 Mitchell Fellows (Husqvarna) 9+19+23=51, 25 Tom Weston (???) 15+17+18=50,...

RACE ONE: 1 Cox, 2 Morris, 3 Wells, 4 Saunders, 5 Crowder, 6 Paul Neale, 7 Stealey, 8 Carl Benjamin, 9 Lane, 10 Mathia, 11 Del-Busso, 12 Ryan Jones, 13 McShane, 14 Thomas, 15 Christopher Hill, 16 Martin Jones, 17 Brandon Benjamin, 18 Daniel Hill, 19 Robinson, 20 Wayne Williams.

RACE TWO: 1 Saunders, 2 Morris, 3 Wells, 4 Carl Benjamin, 5 Stealey, 6 Crowder, 7 Mathia, 8 Ryan Jones, 9 Paul Neale, 10 McShane, 11 Cox, 12 Brandon Benjamin, 13 Del-Busso, 14 Thomas, 15 Gray, 16 Swift, 17 Daniel Hill, 18 Mitchell Benjamin, 19 Robinson, 20 Lane.

RACE THREE: 1 Saunders, 2 Morris, 3 Mathia, 4 Wells, 5 Carl Benjamin, 6 Paul Neale, 7 Cox, 8 Lane, 9 Del-Busso, 10 Crowder, 11 Martin Jones, 12 Stealey, 13 McShane, 14 Christopher Hill, 15 Gray, 16 Swift, 17 Daniel Hill, 18 Mitchell Benjamin, 19 Robinson, 20 Lane.

FINAL SERIES STANDINGS after 7 rounds: 1 Jack Cox 1052 points (CHAMPION), 2 Ben Saunders 1031, 3 Carl Benjamin 923, 4 Paul Neale 810, 5 Stealey 798, 6 Morris 756, 7 Cannings 696, 8 Crowder 661, 9 Lane 632, 10 Mathia 628, 11 Wells 625, 12 Martin Jones 581, 13 Ryan Jones 530, 14 McShane 498, 15 Swift 474, 16 Christopher Hill 456, 17 Brandon Benjamin 408, 18 Thomas 386, 19 Gray 359, 20 Daniel Hill 316,...

SUPPORT CLASSES

Champs Non-Qualifier/ Expert: 1 Jamie Thompstone 167 Points, 2 Luke Woodland 147, 3 Daniel Brazil 138.

Expert: 1 Callum Imrie 180 Points 2 Adrian Lewis 162.

Senior: 1 Joe Skinner 170, 2 Sam Alderman 164, 3 Adam Williams 142.

Junior: 1 Callum Atherton 174, 2 Russ McKenzie 168, 3 Conner Challinor 147.